Stepfather accused of sexually abusing 7-year-old girl

Edwin Soto started sexually abusing his 7-year-old stepdaughter when the family lived in Maryland and the abuse continued after they moved to Miami in January, police said.

The child told her mother, but the mother didn’t believe her, police said.

On Tuesday, Miami police arrested Soto, 32, and charged him with two counts of sexual battery of a child under 12, and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. Florida Department of Law Enforcement records list Soto as a registered sexual offender.

His wife Regia B. Perez-Soto, 32, also was arrested, and charged with two counts of child neglect for not informing authorities about her husband’s conduct.